Posner Maritime Art Collection
Untitled
Signed by C? “Wallis”
Oil on canvas, 12 x 24
Stylistically, and subject wise, this painting would appear to date from between 1840 and 1860. It is signed C. Wallis or perhaps just Wallis. A possibility for the artist is Charles Wallis, an English engraver. He is known to have been working in London in 1823.
The paddle-wheeler’s name may be on the paddle box, but is illegible. The vessel is a British cross-channel paddle-wheel steamer, possibly headed for Holland or Belgium. Dover Castle is visible atop the white cliffs of Dover, in the left background. The seawall at the Port of Dover can also be seen. The painting has some age to it, as suggested by the craqelure (shrinkage cracks) in the oil. The flag on the mainmast is a house flag, not the French tri-color. A British ensign flies from a halyard.